Many of those who recognise the name of the French pianist,
arranger, songwriter, and conductor Michel Legrand, probably
associate him with his work as a film and television composer.
Melodies as memorable as I Will Wait For You from the filmThe Umbrellas Of Cherbourg andThe Windmills Of Your Mind fromThe Thomas Crown Affair or indeed What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life? from the 1969
movie, The Happy Ending helped to build an enviable
reputation in this role. There's even a recording of the latter
song available on You Tube, which reveals to him to be no mean
balladeer. What may be less obvious to the unitiated is his
contribution to jazz. Now 85 years old, Legrand was born into a
musical family in Paris. At least five members of his family were
musicians, including his father Raymond who was a bandleader and
his sister Christiane who was a singer. His mother, meanwhile,
managed a music publishing firm. No wonder the young Michel was
hailed as a prodigy! On and off during his career, Legrand has
conducted, wrote for or recorded with jazz giants such as Stan
Getz, Sarah Vaughan, Phil Woods, Stephane Grappelli, Shelly Manne
and Bud Shank. At the time of Legrand Jazz, the most
notable of the four albums included in this collection, he was only
24.

Legrand Jazz
assembles fifteen of the most talented jazz musicians of their day
(some of them, like Miles Davis, John Coltrane or Bill Evans among
the most gifted of all time). Constituting three different groups
across eleven tracks, the result is a triumph. The musical material
is drawn from the classic jazz repertoire, ranging from traditional
sources, through the swing era to bebop and beyond. 'Round Midnight features Miles Davis at his wistful best,
alongside Herbie Mann on flute and harpist Betty Glamann, among
others. Miles is muted perfection on Django. Duke
Ellington's Don't Get Around Much Anymore has some
positively Kentonesque trombones while the excellent George
Duvivier impresses on bass and Herbie Mann, as usual, contributes
in that light-hearted, quirky style of his on flute. And how about
that rousing ensemble on A Night In Tunisia? In fact, the
only track on this first album that I wasn't enamoured of was Blue And Sentimental. I appreciate Ben Webster's qualities
on tenor sax but, on occasions, find his lush tone a little rich
for my taste.

The other jazz album among four offerings contained in this two CD
set is Legrand Piano where Legrand goes through his paces
as part of a piano trio. With the odd exception (i.e. Autumn Leaves), the bulk of the melodies are about Paris,
Legrand's home city. Occasionally a tad gimmicky but with unusual
arrangements and a strong dash of romanticism, much of the content
I would describe as cocktail jazz. There are hints of Oscar
Peterson and Bill Evans, for instance, in Legrand's playing but the
pianist that most came to mind was George Shearing, especially onŔ Paris, La Vie En Rose andThe Song From Moulin Rouge (otherwise known as Where Is Your Heart?). The latter, by the way, is an
arrangement a mile away from the rather dreamy, slow treatment the
tune normally receives. The other resemblance I noticed was to
André Previn - try I Love Paris, for instance, where the
intial gently swinging improvisation is embellished with more
trenchant moments. There's a fine trio collaboration on The Last Time I Saw Paris 2.

As for the Michel Legrand Big Band Plays Richard Rogers,
which provides the rest of the first CD, despite the presence of
talents such as Clark Terry on trumpet and Paul Gonsalves on tenor
sax in the band, this is pretty average fare. Exceptions can be
found on Have You Met Miss Jones?, This Can't Be Love and The Lady Is A Tramp, all
of which benefit greatly from Terry's contributions. Which brings
us to the other bonus album, Broadway Is My Beat, a
make-weight on the second CD. All the tunes have jazz potential but
only one receives that kind of treatment. Old Devil Moon
with an arrangement in the Nelson Riddle style is the sole
redeeming feature from a jazz perspective. Otherwise, lovers of
show tunes played by Mantovani, Ray Conniff or (more recently) the
John Wilson Orchestra may disagree, but for this listener the corn
was indeed as high as an elephant's eye!

The collection as a whole is worth having for Legrand Jazz
and, to a lesser extent, Legrand Piano. After that,
pickings are slim.